Johnny Frisbie

Her autobiographical children's novel, Miss Ulysses of Puka-Puka (1948), was the first published literary work by a Pacific Islander woman author.

[3] Following the death of her mother in 1939 the family left Pukapuka and travelled to Manihiki and Rarotonga before settling on Suwarrow in January 1942.

During this time, Frisbie published Miss Ulysses of Puka-Puka, dealing with her life on the atoll and her bond with her father and family.

[3] She attended Punahou School in Honolulu, and after graduating the author James A. Michener encouraged her to take a job in Japan as a secretary in the military.

They subsequently moved to New Zealand, where Frisbie lived for thirty years, working for the University of Otago and writing children's books.